If you thought the cover is weird, wait until you play the game itself.
A 1994 Super Famicom game, directed by Koji Aihara.
This game contains examples of:
- Atlantis: The research done by Idea states only people descended from the lost civilization can properly use ESP. Kamekichi is the only one who can equip the Atlantis gear.
- Bad Future: A Whirlpool will appear when Idea launches the Ark which leads to this, there are very few if any humans left and only one landmass.
- Botanical Abomination: Nepenthes, a carnivorous plant monster with a human head controlling it's vines.
- Crossdresser: Every character save Tom Tom and Kameinawara (Can't equip them with anything) can change into clothes not meant for their gender, in fact it's encouraged in order to get through a certain part of the game as two of the towns consist entirely of one gender only.
- Drill Tank: The Bowels of the Earth Exploration Vehicle.
- Elite Four: Idea's most powerful generals: Demoku, Piizu, Equale and Jasuti.
- Evolutionary Levels: Many of the monsters in the game are the result of a virus being spread on earth.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning
- Global Airship: The Helicopter and Submarine.
- The Great Flood: Late in the game most of the Earth has been submerged due to Chijikukatamukeeru (Machine that alters Earth's Axis) The axis was tilted to make Antarctica align with the Equator, causing rapid global warming.
- Guest Fighter: The wild boar and polar bear (two of the Monster Allies that can be recruited) are actually called Uribo and Shiro; They hail from the manga "Katte ni Shirokuma", another work by Koji Aihara.
- Guest-Star Party Member: None of them can be controlled manually.
- Tomoko, Rinko's elder sister, shows up in the middle of the fight with Gold Eater.
- UTR-7X is a robot created by Demoku who accompanies Dr. Poe for a while.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Tomoko gets fatally injured trying to protect Rinko from Gold Eater's kamikaze explosion. After some last words, she dies.
- UTR-7X destroys itself to render Demoku's atomic gun useless. After Dr. Poe is rescued, you give him the bad news.
- Hopeless Boss Fight:
- The Stupid Frog (yes, that's his name) releases a sleeping gas that knocks the party out. When Dr. Poe and UTR-7X arrive to the cave later, the robot neutralizes the gas and the frog is killed for good.
- The first time you fight Npanpa, you won't be able to damage him because of his 3rd eye.
- Improbable Weapon User: Due to the system using items instead of equipping weapons and fighting with them. But each character has weapons they are good with.
- Kamekichi: Knives / Swords.
- Mikoto: Kitchen utensils.
- Rinko: Bows.
- Judd: Knives.
- Dr. Poe: Guns.
- Raigan: Bare handed.
- Lethal Lava Land: The Volcano, it comes complete with a village, a jungle and giant mushrooms all inside it.
- Tengu: The party encounters one for a boss fight.
- One-Man Army Piizu; he decimates the entire U.S. Navy.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Jasuti is one, and he comes from a town full of these (which you can visit optionally, and fight the inhabitants).
- Secret Character: Tom Tom.
- Shout-Out: Many references from eastern and western media are used. Romeo and Juliet, Freddy Krueger, The Godfather, Indiana Jones, The Bible, and so on.
- Taking You with Me: After Gold Eater is defeated, he resorts to an explosive Suicide Attack before perishing, causing Tomoko to sacrifice herself to save Rinko.
- Traumatic Superpower Awakening: This is how Kamekichi's powers awaken. His family was killed when he was 4 years old, which unleashed a powerful Psychic attack, researchers confined him for 10 years in a facility to try and awaken those powers again. They succeed in doing so by killing off the Restraining Bolt; a dog that was also in the facility which he befriended. At the end of the game, when Insanity of Idea kills Idea and Munakata the same way the researchers killed the dog, his Psychic Powers become even stronger. (Levels up 10 times)
- Villain-Beating Artifact: The Cold Sword, which is the only thing that can kill Npanpa.
- Virtual Paper Doll: The game has a surprisingly impressive equipment system. Everything you equip on your party members will show in their character sprites. And in many cases, what you wear is important depending on where you are. You will need winter clothes to go to the Great Snow Mountain, or your health will drain.
